Team Stats

Passing Yards

Rushing Yards

Turnovers

Time of Poss.

The running of sophomore Dennis Moore keyed a fourth quarter surge by the ninth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team in a 17-7 win over Washington University-Saint Louis, Saturday afternoon in Perkins Stadium in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Washington started quickly, marching 75 yards on nine plays on the opening drive. The longest play of the drive was the touchdown, with senior quarterback Eric Daginella connecting with junior wideout Will Smith for twenty-nine yards with 11:06 left in the quarter. Alex Hallwachs added the point after.

And that was it, for both teams, until the fourth quarter. Whitewater's offense never penetrated inside the Bears' 40 yard line until the fourth. Washington, which had 156 yards in the first two quarters, took a 7-0 lead into the locker room.

Early in the fourth quarter Whitewater's Justin Howard took a punt at the UW-W 28 and returned it to the 45. The Warhawks used five consecutive runs by Moore, who had just one carry for one yard coming into the quarter, to advance to the Washington 24. Eric Kindler finally got Whitewater on the board with a 32 yard field goal with 9:19 left in the game to cut the Bears' lead to 7-3.

The Warhawk defense held, and on the Bears' punt, returner Howard was interfered with a fair catch attempt. The penalty put the Whitewater offense at the Washington 30.

Junior quarterback Matt Behrendt hooked up with junior wide receiver Jake Kumerow for a 30 yard touchdown on the next play, and Kindler's extra point made it 10-7 with 6:39 remaining.

After an exchange, Whitewater appeared to be stopped on their 14 yard line, but sophomore Justin Dischler forced a fumble by Bear return man Dylan Newcomb, with the ball recovered by Whitewater's Spencer Jacque at the Washington 28.

It only took one play again, as Moore squirted through for 28 yards and a 17-7 Whitewater lead after Kindler's kick with 3:00 left in the game.

After giving up the 156 yards in the first two quarters, the Warhawk defense held the Bears to 39 yards of total offense in the second half. Moore did not see any first half action, and had just one carry for one yard entering the fourth quarter. He wound up leading both teams with 71 yards on 12 carries. Behrendt completed 14-25 for 158 yards with the one TD and no interceptions, but he covered a lot of real estate running away from Bear defenders, who sacked Behrendt three times and registered 12 tackles for a loss. Behrendt was charged with eight carries for minus 21 yards. Kumerow and Joe Worth had three receptions each for Whitewater.

Daginella completed 9-26 for 147 yards with one score and one interception. Tim Bartholomew caught three of those tosses for 86 yards. Zach Lonneman carried the ball ten times for 32 yards.

Washington linebacker Fade Oluokun led both teams with 11 tackles, one sack and two tackles for a loss. Lineman Nelson Nwumeh added ten tackles, a sack and two more tackles for a loss. Linebacker Kyle Wismer topped the Warhawks with seven tackles, with defensive end Marshall Rutherford contributing a QB sack, a tackle for a loss and three tackles. Brady Grayvold had the game's only interception.

UW-W has next week (September 14) off, returning to action September 21 at Buffalo (NY) State College. The next home game will be September 28 when Waldorf College (IA) visits Perkins Stadium for a 1:00 kickoff.